Father and son sentenced in 2011 assault of Taunton man

Wednesday

Feb 26, 2014 at 9:44 PMFeb 26, 2014 at 9:47 PM

Charles Winokoor Taunton Gazette Staff Reporter @cwinokoor

FALL RIVER — On Wednesday, a superior court judge rejected a request for leniency by defense lawyers for an Acushnet father and son convicted earlier this month of punching and kicking a Taunton man, who now requires round-the-clock medical care.

The assault occurred on May 18, 2011, and resulted from the theft of money from the assailants’ house.

Justice Lloyd Macdonald sentenced Christopher Adams, 55, to 2½-to-three years in state prison for assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, a shod foot.

Christopher Adams will also serve a concurrent two-year sentence in a house of correction for assault and battery and a one- to two-year stretch in state prison for unarmed robbery of a cellphone.

His son, Jacob Adams, 28, who witnesses said was wearing work boots when he repeatedly kicked Gary Medeiros in the head — resulting in permanent brain damage — will have to serve at least four years in prison before the possibility of parole.

Macdonald sentenced the younger Adams to four-to-five years in state prison for the charge of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, three-to-five years in state prison for unarmed robbery and two years in the house of correction for assault and battery.

Defense attorneys Edward Sharkansky, who represented Christopher Adams, and Robert Galibois, representing Jacob Adams, portrayed the two as hardworking business owners who often work up to seven days a week.

They pointed out that the jury did not convict either of the more serious charge of assault and battery resulting in serious bodily harm. Galibois said Christopher, who witnesses testified initially pulled Medeiros from his car and punched him until he fell to the ground, played a “passive” role and was remorseful.

“It was clearly a moment that he certainly regrets,” Galibois said.

Sharkansky argued that Jacob be placed on extended probation and continue to wear a GPS monitoring bracelet instead of going to jail. He said testimonials, including from his fiancée, portrayed his client as “an undeniably loving man” with no prior record of assault who is not predisposed to violence.

Assistant District Attorney Daniel Hourihan argued that the circumstances of the assault on Medeiros — who was 25 when he was assaulted on Myricks Street/Route 79 and is now confined to a long-term medical facility — warranted a sentence exceeding traditional sentencing guidelines.

Hourihan asked that Christopher, although he was not described as the one who kicked Medeiros, be sentenced to seven- to-10 years in state prison.

“It was Jake’s shod feet that delivered the worst blows, but Chris Adams was equally if not in some ways more culpable. He was the adult and the leader of the household,” Hourihan said, adding that the assault over a debt was nothing more than “a vicious beating.”

Rick Medeiros, one of the victim’s two brothers, during his witness-impact statement to the judge, asked how he could forgive men “when they showed no mercy.”

Medeiros also rejected the depiction of his brother as a degenerate heroin addict who somehow was responsible for what happened to him that day.

“I think every family, including theirs,” he said, motioning to relatives and friends of the Adams men, “have a family member who has gone through addiction.”

Medeiros said the men were not remorseful and had boasted online via social media while they were out on bail. And he said it “sickens” him knowing that, at one time, Christopher Adams’ wife worked as clerk magistrate in New Bedford District Court.

Medeiros said Gary now relies on a machine to be fed and a syringe for liquid nourishment. “My brother has been called a vegetable, brain dead, but from this day on I want him to be known as Gary Medeiros, a brother, son, boyfriend and uncle.

There are no winners in this,” he said.

Christopher Medeiros called Christopher Adams “a very selfish man.” He also said his parents, who are retired and are on a fixed income, have been sentenced to what amounts to a life sentence in terms of emotional suffering and contributing to their son’s medical expenses.

Jillian Szynder said she expects it will be at least 10 years before her boyfriend Gary makes substantial recovery. In the meantime, she said, she continues to visit him and worries whether he will continue to receive adequate 24-hour care.

The two Adams men said they pursued Medeiros after his former girlfriend, who is Jacob’s sister and Christopher’s daughter, called to say he just come into the house and stolen close to $1,900.

Medeiros, after a cellphone conversation, doubled back and left $1,000 in a mailbox and was on his way to meet the woman and her mother in East Taunton when he was caught by the two defendants.

Macdonald said he found letters from supporters of the father and son to be “deeply touching” in their depiction of them as unselfish, community-oriented members of society. Christopher Adams is the owner of Don Adams Oil Co.

But Macdonald said he could not discount what he called a “predatory vigilante beating” that was undertaken to exact retribution.

Gary Medeiros, after being assaulted, managed to drive back to his Taunton apartment where he was found unconscious.

At one point, Christopher Adams addressed the judge and the Medeiros family. He said he had not slept in three years and would gladly serve 10 years if it would bring the victim back to full health.

“Gary was a fantastic kid. He lived in my house,” he said.

Adams said the justice system had “let him down.” “We never got our day in court. Please believe me, it was not me and my son who did it that day,” he said, looking back at the victim’s family and friends.

His son, Jacob, also spoke briefly, saying that “my heart goes out to you guys.”

Defense attorneys in the case contended that Medeiros may have been severely beaten by a drug dealer to whom he owed money. The commonwealth discounted that theory but acknowledged that witnesses reported seeing one or two other men who took part in beating the victim.

Sharkansky called the judge’s sentencing “fair” and called the case “a tragedy.” But he also said the victim, Medeiros, bears “some responsibility” for what happened.

“But not for what he did this never would have happened,” Sharkansky said.